Diqin Designer

Chapter 330 What is Peacock Country like?

Ye Zhuo and others couldn't help but look at Gan Yu and others, as if asking: This Peacock countryman is so shameless and boasting in front of you, and you just don't do anything about it?
However, Gan Yu and others seemed not to have heard what Master Moye said. They continued to eat and drink calmly and indifferently.

Seeing the Qin people's reaction, Ye Zhuo and others became subtle. It seemed that the Peacock people had boasted in front of the Qin people, making the Qin people too lazy to refute them.

This also reveals another message: the Peacock people don't seem to be aware of the power of the Qin people, so they have the nerve to brag about themselves in front of the Qin people.

No, it could also be that the Qin people had told them about the power of the Qin Dynasty, but these Peacock people simply did not believe that there was a country stronger than them in the world, and they thought that the Qin people were making up lies to deceive them.

This possibility is more likely. It is impossible for the Qin people not to introduce their origins and some news about Qin to the Peacock people, but what the Qin people said was regarded as a lie by the Peacock people.

From this incident, Ye Zhuo and others felt that they had seen some of the character traits of these Peacock People: they have certain insights, but not that much. They are like the frog in the well in the story told by the Qin people, who are content with their own world and only think that their well is the strongest and the best, and do not acknowledge that there is a better and broader world outside their well.

This also aroused great interest and curiosity among Ye Zhuo and others. They really wanted to know how these Peacock people would react when they truly knew the strength of the Qin people.

Although these Peacock people did not say it explicitly, some of the attitudes they displayed clearly showed that they regarded them as ignorant barbarians who knew nothing and understood nothing.

This made Ye Zhuo and others feel quite unhappy. They might not be able to compete with the Peacock Kingdom behind this group of people, but Daqin could, just like I am not as good as you, but I have a friend who is worse than you.

What's more, nowadays, almost all the Baiyue tribes have to rely on the Great Qin. They are not friends, but should call "Great Qin, my father!". What's wrong with a son relying on his father's fame?

When the time comes, when they learn that the Qin Dynasty is more powerful than them and that their King Ashoka's achievements are nothing compared to those of the Qin Dynasty's king and generals, will these Maurya people become angry and ashamed, or will they continue to deceive themselves, cover their ears and eyes, and refuse to listen or believe?

As Master Moye spoke, he was also paying attention to the reactions of Yezhuo and others. How much knowledge could a group of indigenous barbarians have?
You will definitely be shocked and amazed by the power of the Maurya Empire and the greatness of Ashoka, and you will be full of admiration and envy.

However, what surprised Master Moye was that these indigenous barbarians were not as surprised and shocked as he had imagined. Instead, they showed a kind of contempt and disdain, as if they sneered at what he said.

This made Master Maya feel a little uncomfortable. He felt that he was looked down upon by a group of indigenous barbarians. It didn't matter that they looked down upon him, but they actually looked down upon their Maurya Kingdom and the great King Ashoka.

Your land is bigger than our Peacock Kingdom, your people are more numerous than our Peacock Kingdom, and you are more kind and benevolent than our Peacock Kingdom. Have you ever produced a great figure like Ashoka?

Moreover, you see what the Qin people are doing, does it mean that the Qin people are stronger than our Peacock Country, and you want the Qin people to give you face? Unfortunately, those lies of the Qin people have long been seen through by us!
These indigenous barbarians were indeed backward and ignorant, with limited knowledge. They did not understand the strength of the Maurya Empire and the greatness of Ashoka.

But we can't blame them too much, because they didn't grow up in the Maurya Kingdom and their tribe has never produced great people like Buddha and Ashoka.

It is precisely for this reason that they are destined to save them and free them from barbarism and ignorance. This must be the Buddha guiding them here in the dark.

Master Moye's mind suddenly became clear. Not only did he not show any dissatisfaction, but he looked at Ye Zhuo and others more kindly and cheerfully, which made Ye Zhuo and others feel puzzled.

Ye Zhuo asked deliberately: "From what you said, the Buddha is a man of great wisdom. May I ask what kind of wisdom he has?"

Upon hearing Ye Zhuo's question, Master Mo Ye immediately became alert again and said, "The wisdom of the Buddha is unparalleled in the past and present. Before the Buddha, no one was wiser than the Buddha, and after the Buddha, no one is wiser than the Buddha."

Doesn't this mean that the Buddha was unprecedented and unrivaled? Of course, Ye Zhuo and others do not believe this at all. If the Buddha was really that powerful, then why didn't the Maurya Kingdom become the most virtuous country when the Buddha attained enlightenment, but had to wait until the time of King Ashoka?

Even the Qin people never said that Qin was a benevolent country, but the people of Peacock State dared to make such a bold statement. Not only did they have no self-awareness, they were also quite arrogant.

Master Mahaye continued to talk about the greatness of the Buddha and the profoundness of the Buddhist scriptures with great interest, leaving Yezhuo and others confused. What was all this about? "Self-awareness, awareness of others, awareness of practice", "suffering, origin, cessation, and path"?
They couldn't understand it, they really couldn't understand it, and it didn't seem like the Qin people were deliberately translating it in a way that they couldn't understand, so there was only one explanation: the wisdom of the Buddha was something that was difficult for people to understand and was not very practical.

Ye Zhuo and the others immediately lost interest, but they did not express it too obviously. However, Master Moye also saw that these barbarians did not seem to be very interested in the wisdom of the Buddha. After talking for a while, he stopped on his own initiative and sighed in his heart: To spread the glory of the Buddha to these barbarians, the road ahead is long and arduous!
After the banquet, after arranging a place for Master Moye and others to rest, Ye Zhuo and others gathered together again with Gan Yu and others.

Ye Zhuo said: "Your Excellency, are all the people of Peacock Country so arrogant?"

They had wanted to ask this question just now, but Master Moye and others were still there at the time, so it was not convenient to ask directly in front of them. Now that they were not there, there was naturally no need to worry.

Gan Yu smiled and said, "Most of the Peacock people I have seen are like this. They are arrogant because they do have some strength. They are the strongest country in their region, and there is no country that can compete with them. Naturally, they develop an arrogant nature."

"Second, they are confined to their own world and are unwilling to open their eyes to the outside world. They think that they are the strongest and most powerful in the world, and that other countries are all barbaric and small countries. Even our Great Qin is a barbaric and small country in their eyes."

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhuo and others showed a strange look on their faces, "As expected!" Even the Great Qin was regarded as a barbaric and small country by these Peacock people, so it was not surprising that they regarded them as ignorant and barbaric.

No wonder the Qin people were too lazy to say anything when the Peacock Countryman boasted about himself...

Presumably, when the Qin people were on a diplomatic mission to the Peacock Kingdom, they encountered this situation too many times and no longer wanted to waste their breath arguing with the Peacock people.

Thinking of this, Ye Zhuo and others had even more strange expressions, because they thought of the scene where the Qin people went to the Peacock Kingdom as an envoy, but were treated as a barbarian small country by the Peacock people. The Qin people must have had very complicated feelings at that time.

They never thought that they, the envoys of the Great Qin, would one day be treated with an attitude that said, "You are just barbarians and small countries, while we are the Celestial Empire."

Ye Zhuo asked curiously, "Your Excellency, what is the situation in the Peacock Kingdom?"

Gan Yu said, "It is not the country of the highest virtue as Namoye said, and its people are not of good character. Everyone..." Gan Yu paused, looked at Ye Zhuo and others, and then continued, "You'd better not listen to Namoye's words. The Maurya Kingdom implements that kind of caste system, which divides people into several different castes. There is a strict distinction between high castes and low castes. They can do different things and cannot intermarry. The caste you are born into will always be that caste, and it is almost impossible to change it."

But this does not seem to be unacceptable. It sounds as if it is quite beneficial to them. Dividing everyone into levels will help ensure the prosperity of future generations. After all, those who are responsible for receiving Gan Yu and others are all high-ranking figures of the Yueshang tribe.

Gan Yu knew what these people were thinking, and added: "In the Maurya Kingdom, there is a caste called 'Dalit', which is also known as 'Untouchables'."

A high-ranking member of the Yuechang tribe asked, "Your Excellency, what is meant by 'untouchables'?"

Gan Yu said: "It literally means that people of higher castes cannot be touched. Under the caste system, they are considered dirty and filthy, and are only fit to live in the shadows of corners."

"They have to avoid people when they walk, because they can't let their shadows fall on the upper castes. They also have to carry brooms, because they have to sweep away their footprints while walking..."

Ye Zhuo and others were dumbfounded when they heard this. What a twisted system this was. It was outrageous just by hearing about it. Although it didn't seem to be as cruel as putting on handcuffs and shackles, or having one's hands and feet broken at will, it felt even worse than that.

Ye Zhuo and the others looked at each other with serious expressions. This caste system seemed to have advantages, but it also had many drawbacks and disasters. What if their family fell into the "Dalit" caste...

Another high-ranking member of the Yuechang tribe asked: "This caste system is so... absurd, how can the Mauryas, who are 'Dalits', accept it?"

This caste system is beneficial to the upper castes, but it is really unfriendly to the Dalits. The Mauryas of the Dalit caste will definitely not be willing to accept it!

Gan Yu looked at them and said, "This is another peculiarity of the Maurya Kingdom. You think that the Dalits are lowly, worse than livestock, and therefore they would harbor resentment? However, this is not the case. The Dalits of the Maurya Kingdom not only do not harbor resentment, but they even take the initiative to protect them."

This once again made Ye Zhuo and others dumbfounded. The caste system of Maurya Kingdom was already outrageous enough, but what was even more outrageous was that the Dalits of Maurya Kingdom were willing to accept it and actively protect it.

It’s so outrageous that his mother opened the door for outrageous things. It’s so outrageous.

The upper castes in the Maurya Kingdom have "educated" the lower caste Dalits too well, making them so obedient. If their descendants were demoted to the Dalit caste and suffered such treatment, wouldn't it mean that they would never be able to turn things around?

No wonder the envoy said "it is almost impossible to change". If this is the case, then there is indeed almost no way.

A high-ranking official of the Yueshang tribe said disdainfully: "How dare the people of Peacock Country say that their country is a country of supreme virtue and that its people are kind and good..."

This statement drew the approval of all the Yuechang tribe leaders. How dare they say this when their own people are not even as good as livestock?

Ye Zhuo asked, "Your Excellency, who is the Buddha? From what the people of Peacock Country said, it seems that there are many believers in the Peacock Country."

Gan Yu smiled and said, "The Buddha was originally a wise man from the Peacock Kingdom, born more than 300 years ago. He founded a religion called 'Buddhism'. 'Buddhism' is a sect that gathers Buddha's followers and spreads what he said, thought and thought. Buddha also became a god believed in by Buddhists."

Doesn't that mean that the Buddha was originally an ordinary person, but after establishing Buddhism, he was regarded as a god by Buddhist believers and became a god from an ordinary person?
Gan Yu continued, "In the beginning, Buddhism was not as prosperous as it is today. Its teachings advocated equality for all living beings, and everyone could join the religion regardless of their caste. However, in the Maurya Kingdom, only high castes could join the sect and believe in gods."

A high-ranking official of the Yuechang tribe said disdainfully: "All living beings are equal? ​​Then are Dalits equal? ​​Then Buddhism must be just a name without substance."

Gan Yu nodded and smiled, "That's true. The Buddha's teaching that all living beings are equal and that everyone can join the religion regardless of their surname seems good, but it's not the case in practice."

"As far as Gan knows, although Buddhism seems to allow low castes to join the religion, it has set up strict entrance tests, which are generally difficult for low castes to pass. Even if they pass, the status of low castes in Buddhism is different from that of high castes."

The disdainful Yuechang tribe leader laughed and said, "So it seems that Buddhism is also hypocritical. If they really believed that all beings are equal and that everyone can join the religion regardless of caste, they would not deliberately set up tests."

This is an unavoidable problem in the development of Buddhism. It is not a social revolution that directly disintegrates the caste system, but advocates personal practice to achieve spiritual liberation. If Buddhism wants to develop without the collapse of the caste system, it can only adapt to the caste system and make a certain degree of compromise with it.

Gan Yu added: "Buddhism advocates ascetic practice of meditation, which means sitting in a certain place and thinking deeply. Mahayana's words 'The Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree in Gaya' are based on this method. He kept thinking deeply under the tree and realized the so-called great wisdom."

A high-ranking official of the Yueshang tribe asked at this time: "Why are you thinking so hard? Don't you need to eat or drink?"

Gan Yu smiled and said, "According to what I saw in Tanmo Lidi, those monks still need food and drink, but they hardly do anything productive, that is, they don't hunt or farm, they just go to the door to beg for alms or have people offer them food and drink."

"They believe that if someone offers them food and drink, it means that person is accumulating merit for themselves. Therefore, in the Maurya Kingdom, the offerings to monks must be large and good. Ordinary people cannot afford to offer, so naturally there is no merit to be accumulated."

Hearing this, Ye Zhuo and others looked at each other in bewilderment. Not engaging in production means that this group of people has no output, yet they still want to eat and drink well. If Buddhism is promoted in a certain country, there will be too many lazy people who are greedy and lazy, and problems will arise sooner or later.

Isn’t Buddhism flourishing in the Maurya Kingdom now?
Ye Zhuo immediately asked: "Your Excellency, the fact that Buddhism is so prosperous in the Maurya Kingdom, isn't this a disaster?"

Gan Yu smiled and said, "The situation in Peacock Country is slightly different. Although Buddhism is flourishing in Peacock Country, with tens of thousands of Buddhist temples and a large amount of land and property, Peacock Country is indeed rich in products, and there are many people in the country who cannot convert to Buddhism. The situation can be maintained for the time being."

"But if this continues, there will be disaster. Monks do not produce anything, do not pay taxes, and occupy a large amount of land. If many people want to join the religion, it will not be long before disaster strikes."

After hearing this, Ye Zhuo and others looked serious. If Buddhism were to spread to their Yueshang tribe and a large number of its people converted to Buddhism and became monks, the Yueshang tribe would be on the verge of decline or even destruction.

(End of this chapter)